In cases of ‘too close’ media coverage, there is a clear invasion of personal space of the persons featured (as in the picture of Princess Diana and Lindsay Lohan). The distance between the Self and the Other, Us and Them is traversed so as to extinguish personal differences as well as the idea of diversity, to provide a sneak peak to others’ private lives (Vanessa Hudgens, Miley Cyrus), which results to the audience’s tendency to relate to the media’s emotional side rather than its contextual side. Additionally, the audience’s emotional involvement renders the media as mere entertainment to be appreciated only for its face value instead of its cultural, political, or social value, which is evident in the pictures presented.
Too Far
These are media’s too far depictions of the Other, specifically unpopular leaders such as Hitler, Bush and Hussein. These people, who are distant from us not only geographically but also ideologically and culturally, are pushed too far from us by the media by demonizing and dehumanizing them in these depictions, such as comparing them to Satan and to pure evil. We have forgotten that despite their unpopular acts, they are human just like us.
Proper Distance
The collage features celebrities in their daily lives and in an activity many of us can relate to, showing them as caring parents and as regular members of society (Claudine Barretto and her child; Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin with their child) without invading their privacy, as they are comfortable with their photo being taken. The photo of the Sumilao farmer can also evoke and drive people into action (for the justice of the farmers) as there is a balance between context and emotion since it shows the farmer in a moment where she is laughing like a regular person; she is not depicted as a crazy activist. These photos maintain the objectivity of their subjects and are neither too close nor too far to the Other; they neither depict them as inhumane nor indistinguishable from regular members of society.
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